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motoring September, 2013 Voyager Media Publications, Inc. The Joliet Bugle The Plainfield Enterprise The Shorewood Sentinel www.buglenewspapers.com
INSIDEFeatures n Cover Story Fast Forward Race Cars > pages 1 & 2
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Plainfield race car builder celebrates 15th anniversary
A
aron Stapleton learned a valuable lesson early: Driving a fast car means more than just possessing a powerful engine under the hood. He has since translated that knowledge into a business that has flourished for more than a decade. Stapleton is celebrating the 15-year anniversary of his business, Fast Forward Race Cars, Inc., in Plainfield, which builds race cars, street cars and rods, pro street racers, muscle cars and roll cages, as well as provides custom tin work, header design, and custom welding, machining and tubebending services. In just 12 weeks, Stapleton is able to transform a shell of a car into fully functional racing machine, and he takes pride in each car he builds. “Even to this day, I work on
each car like it’s my own. The passion is still there,” he said.
“Even to this day, I work on each car like it’s my own. The passion is still there,” Aaron Stapleton Fast Forward Race Cars, Inc.
Fast Forward builds everything from top sportsman to prostock vehicles and fabricates parts for all those vehicles.
The race car designer has always had a penchant for cars. “When I was little, my parents had a 1970 Chevelle. I was fascinated by it,” Stapleton said. “I think that’s what got me in the direction I was going.” Stapleton’s real passion for race cars grew from his days a freshman in shop class at Romeoville High School. By the time he was 16, Stapleton was racing, and he knew he wanted to build his own race car. He chose a 1969 Camaro. Despite modifying the motor on the Camaro, Stapleton realized that merely increasing horsepower on the engine didn’t make the car go faster. Traction was the key, and it would be a lesson that he would carry Continued on page 2
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Aaron Stapleton TIG welds on a 1968 Nova. TIG allows a person to create clean welds when appearances count, like on an automobile. The Plainfield race car designer has earned a reputation for building quality cars from a blank slate.
Continued from the cover with him over the years. It was in a high school metal shop class where Stapleton learned about welding and fabrication. With that knowledge, he was able to design and craft traction bars and other traction devices for his race car. Through trial and error, Stapleton was able to make his car go faster. To learn more about the mechanical aspects of racing, after graduating from Romeoville
High School in 1988 Stapleton decided to study engineering at Joliet Junior College. It was between his studies and his handson work designing and welding that Stapleton earned a reputation for quality work and the ability to craft fast cars. “I started out working on friends cars, and more people got interested by word of mouth,” he said. By the early ’90s, Stapleton was juggling employment as an engineer and working on race cars part-time from a two-car garage. As he picked up more and more customers, he
opted to incorporate in 1998, and four years later, decided to jump all-in and work on race cars full-time. “I didn’t start out to do this,” he said. “I couldn’t do it without my customers, and my friends and family.” Fast forward 15 years, and now Stapleton manufactures parts that ship all across the United States and Canada. The cars he builds go all over, too; one even made it to the Netherlands. “I built it for a guy in Virginia,” he said, and that fellow then sold it to someone in the Netherlands. His 2,000-square-foot shop on Andrew Road in Plainfield is divided in two parts: one side is a machine shop, the other focuses on welding. “I’m originally from Romeoville, and I built a house in Plainfield. It was a natural transition to set up a shop here,” he said. Stapleton said what sets him apart from others is his knowledge and experience racing. His personal best on the quarter mile with his 1988 Mustang with its 522 cubic –inch big block, stock-style suspension and drag-radial tires was 7.62 seconds, hitting a top speed of 182 mph. “We’re out there racing. We’re testing everything before it goes to market,” he said. “We build what sell and use them on our own cars.” While he doesn’t have as much time these days to race every week, he still manages to get out on the track somewhere around the country at least once a month. Getting out on the racetrack not only allows him pursue his love of racing, but gives him the opportunity to show off his handiwork and talk to potential clients. Providing customers with state-of-the-art equipment is important. “As new technology comes out, I want to stay on top,” Stapleton said. “With all the advances in electronics, power management and shock technology, the sky’s the limit.” Bolt-on suspension kits, which now are available for all different makes and models, are among the latest technology offered by Face Forward Race Cars. As a Mustang driver, Stapleton understands the challenges racing puts on a car. “Heavy, high-horsepower cars tend to destroy chassis components on the Mustang platform. All of our components have been specifically designed to take the abuse that Mustang owners can dish out,” said Stapleton. What really sets the system part from others is the anti-roll bar. “Many shops don’t get the bar perfectly square upon installation. That
can cause the bearing to become bound up and the bar to not work properly. Our system is designed to work smoothly no matter what,” he added. Stapleton admits he’s been fortunate to weather the economic downturn in recent years. While customers’ spending on hobbies went down a bit, “racers are racers. They’re going to race, no matter what,” he said. Business, though, has been picking up over the last year, and now Stapleton is planning to expand his business model to include engines. While the chassis-building craftsmanship and expertise he puts into his race cars have broken numerous records and won championships, that portion is just a piece of the overall puzzle. “Even on my own cars, I would outsource the motor,” he said. So when his car would experience engine failure, “it was out of my control.” “In order to keep the quality I maintain, we are going to everything now,” Stapleton said. He expects to hire additional employees when his shop starts building engines. Stapleton said starting a business like his in today’s business climate would be difficult. He says his success grew from developing a strong customer base. “I would build a car and buy equipment,” Stapleton said. Over the years, the more cars he built, the more he could invest in newer equipment. Now he is able to maintain stateof-the art equipment. Among the investments were a new chassis jig, milling machines, engine lathes, numerous welding machines, tubing benders, plasma cutters and thousands of feet of tubing inventory. Stapleton said he wished companies like his were around when he was in high school. “I would love to have swept the floor,” he said. Perhaps it’s because fewer schools offer shop class, but Stapleton does not see the passion for building cars as much anymore. “The kids don’t seem to be into it as much these days,” he said. A few teen still show an interest, and Stapleton said he does bring in a few young people to work when they’re out of school. In addition to instilling that same passion for race cars he maintains, “I think it’s important to give back to the community,” Stapleton added. n Written by Suzanne Baker
Fast Forward Race Cars custom bends all the roll cages and chassis in-house for a tight fit within the body of each race car. Not only is Aaron Stapleton’s 1988 Mustang street-legal, it’s fast – reaching speeds in excess of 180 mph in 7.62 seconds.
motoring September, 2013 | 3
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